Book Review: "Nine Black Robes" by Joan Biskupic
*Spoiler alert!* 4/5 stars Because this book is not written in the most optimistic of tones, upon finishing it I had to take some time to digest its findings before I wrote this review. Mindfulness and deep breathing were also required. Nine Black Robes , by knowledgeable court reporter Joan Biskupic, is a historic look at the Supreme Court’s dramatic swing to the right. One could be forgiven for thinking that this shift seemed to happen more recently, but Biskupic reveals that the Court has been for decades moving rightward incrementally. The culmination of decades of judicial appointments—at the high court and lower courts alike—influenced by conservative legal groups, such as the Federalist Society, was the striking down of the 50-year-old precedent of Roe v Wade that protected a woman’s constitutional right to make decisions about her reproductive life. (You have to laugh, otherwise you are going to cry. I am fun at parties.) Notwithstanding whether or not one feels th...